During the last centuries of the "Empire of the Romans," Byzantine artists created exceptional secular and religious works that had an enduring influence on art and culture. In later years, Eastern Christian centers of power emulated and transformed Byzantine artistic styles, the Islamic world adapted motifs drawn from Byzantium's imperial past, and the development of the Renaissance from Italy to the Lowlands was deeply affected by Byzantine artistic and intellectual practices.This spectacular book presents hundreds of objects in all media from the late thirteenth through mid-sixteenth centuries. Featured in full-color reproductions are sacred icons, luxuriously embroidered silk textiles, richly gilded metalwork, miniature icons of glass, precious metals and gemstone, and elaborately decorated manuscripts. In the accompanying text, renowned scholars discuss the art and investigate the cultural and historical interaction between these major cultures-the Christian and Islamic East and the Latin West.